A Winter's Ball
by Transient Sparrow
Summary: A ball is announced at Collège Françoise Dupont, and hastily the students find dates for the event. But a certain pair is targeted at the ball, and the mistakes our heroes make may end up being their downfall in a surprising turn of events. Will they be able to stop what comes next? And where is Ladybug?
1. Chapter 1

Hey! This is my first fanfiction, so reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.

Looking back, Adrien wished he had tried harder to convince Chloe that a ball was a bad idea.

He didn't think much when she came bounding up to him, her slim arms dangling through the crook of his elbow, her eyes filled with admiration and heart intent on self-gratification. "My daddy just bought me the most gorgeous yellow gown," her words lingered expectantly, though he remained nonplussed, as he knew she was not searching for a verbal response, not that it would've stopped what came next. "So... I was _thinking_ -"

'That's dangerous,' he thought to himself in amusement, "that I could flaunt it in front of the entire school, say, at a ball?" her lips were twisted into a self-congratulatory smile, revealing that she had deeper reasons for enacting such a plan. Perhaps to dance with him, he reasoned, to drag him into some kind of 'special' event, in which she could flaunt not only her dress, but him, too. Chloe was one of his best friends, but he was not blind to her conniving motives and tendency to love showing off, especially when it could make others worship at her feet in awe and jealousy.

"Sounds fun, Chloe! But how are you going to pull that off?" he played along, already knowing the well rehearsed answer she would give. Her eyes lit up as she spoke. "Easy! I already begged my daddy, you know, the mayor?" as if any of them didn't know by now, "to make Mr. Damocles throw a ball in _my_ honor, right here at school!" her voice was full of pride and confidence. "Oh! I almost forgot, there will also be crowned 'prince' and 'princess' of the ball, so I was thinking maybe you and I can, you know..." her foot rocked back and forth and her voice quieted to almost a whisper, confirming his suspicions. She wanted to be crowned princess with him as prince, an endearing but nevertheless disturbing thought to Adrien.

"Well, we'll just have to see what happens when the time comes, Chloe." he said as he unhooked his arm from hers, sitting in his seat just as the bell rang, beckoning the standing students to their seats as Ms. Bustier took her place in the front of the classroom.

"Bienvenue class, please quiet down and take out your textbooks for today's class," Adrien couldn't help but to zone out a little as she droned on about her daily routine, his attention being grabbed to the window to his right. The leaves of autumn had begun to shift colors, periodic shifts of the trees by the slow-moving winds created an almost hypnotic motion to which his eyes focused on. His trance was broken, however, when something Ms. Bustier said grabbed his attention. "Now, recently the school has decided to put on a winter ball, courtesy of Mayor Bourgeois, and although I know this may be exciting, I believe I should take a moment to go over the expectations for you students regarding dress and behavior."

Adrien had to admit, Chloe was spectacular at persuasion. She had only told him about her idea today, and already the teachers were honing in on the specifics of the upcoming event. "-and absolutely _no_ students with repeatedly immature or rambunctious behavior will be tolerated at this occasion." Bustier finished, taking a well needed breath as she let her speech soak in.

Suddenly, the door to the classroom busted open, interrupting the contemplative silence of the room, as a panting, pig-tailed teen stood- or rather bent over- in the doorway. Catching her breath, she immediately spoke in a frenzied manner. "I'm so sorry Ms. Bustier! I had a late night last night and I forgot to set my alarm so I woke up late and I rushed to get here as soon as I possibly could but you see I left my-"

Ms. Bustier stirred from her shocked muteness, finally giving word to the sudden outburst. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, that is quite enough! It is okay for today but please try to be on time from now on, next time I will not hesitate to send you to the principal. Now please, take your seat."

Marinette sighed in relief and made her way to the seat behind him, her stuff plopping down on the table unceremoniously as she sat tiredly in her seat. Adrien heard Chloe snicker from across the room, muttering about how she was the very example of 'immature behavior' Bustier had been warning of. Adrien felt bad for his friend, he knew how rough juggling school with other responsibilities could be. He turned back to her with a sincere smile and said in a whisper, "Hey, Marinette, if you want, I could call you in the morning to wake you up so you won't have to worry about not setting your alarm?"

Marinette's cheeks were dusted pink, a hand nervously made it's way to the back of her neck as she smiled gratefully. "Th-that would be amazing- ah! I mean great! That would be g-great! Thank you!" His smile widened a bit, if not to reassure her that there was no need to stutter. Adrien always wondered why she always lost her nerve around him. It always made him self-conscious, as he figured his friendship with her was strained and unnatural, whilst he had only ever wanted to hold a healthy conversation with her. Maybe if he were friendlier towards the blackette, she would finally be able to treat him like her other friends.

Adrien turned back around to face the teacher, noticing Nino's strange smirk aimed towards him, but ignoring it, and the rest of the class went on uneventfully. When the bell rang, the students were finally able to speak freely their thoughts on the exciting news of a future ball as they exited the classroom for their lunch break.

Alya turned immediately to Marinette, whispering excitedly to her with vivacious hand motions, probably filling her in on all the details she missed due to her tardiness. Adrien packed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, walking out with Nino.

"Dude! I can't believe Chloe convinced her dad to throw her another party at school, this seriously blows!" he complained in a whine. Adrien laughed and glanced at his friend. "How so? Wouldn't you get to take Alya to this thing?" Nino sighed in an exaggerated fashion. "Yeah, but it also means I'm gonna have to rent a tux, and be on my 'best behavior'. Not to mention I'm gonna have to find a totally killer way to ask her to the ball, or Alya's gonna complain about my lack of 'romance'"

Adrien laughed. "So what? At least you don't have an obligation to take Chloe like I do" They both shuddered at that. "You're right, dude, your issues take the cake," he paused for a moment "But I don't get it- if you really don't wanna take Chloe to the dance, why don't you just ask someone else before she gets the chance to drag you to it?"

Adrien stopped and thought about it for a moment. He did have a point, if he promised someone else before Chloe could ask, he could reject her in the politest way possible. There was only one problem with that: "But who would I ask? There's not exactly a lot of girls I'd want to- oof!" Adrien found himself on the ground as he ran smack into Marinette, who looked just as dazed as he did, sitting across from him on the ground. He stood up and offered a hand to the fallen girl. "Sorry, didn't see you there, need help up?"

Marinette looked up at his hand as her face once again darkened into a blush. She took his hand quickly and stood, looking bashfully at him. "Th-thanks- I'm such a klutz I'm so sorry!"

A spark of electricity ran from her hand to his, and he jolted, his smile dropping momentarily, though he never released her hand. He quickly composed himself and smiled. "Don't worry about it," From his peripherals he spotted a fuming Chloe in the distance, with a disturbingly large crown in her hands, stalking over to where he and Marinette stood. Nino gave him wide eyes, and they shared a look. She was going to ask him to the ball. He would be stuck with her all night, as she fawned over how handsome he was and how beautiful she was, he just knew it. He had to act fast. Quickly, he tightened his grip on Marinette's hand and got down on one knee, turning on his Chat-charm. Taking a deep breath and smiling an award-winning smile, he spoke.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you do me the pleasure of going to the winter ball with me?"


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** OK! First of all, I'd like to apologize for not updating quicker. Life has been kind of hectic in the past couple of weeks, I was in a show last week and tech week is a bitch for lack of better words. But to make up for it, I'm posting two chapters today since one isn't really sufficient enough to satisfy this little cliffhanger. So without further ado, a piece of trash that has somehow made it onto the page: enjoy.

* * *

Marinette was stumped.

Her jaw hung wide open, her bluebell eyes dilated in shock, and the hand that was currently encapsulated by her long-time crush felt limp and detached from the rest of her body. It seemed the entire school shared this moment of intense surprise with her, as by now any loitering students were gathered around the kneeling boy and gaping girl, whispering amongst one another as they tried to predict what would happen next.

Marinette was not very proud to say that she walked away.

In fact, walked was not an accurate description of her response, as it was more of a yanking her hand away, stuttering a quick excuse, and bolting with surprising speed from the premise, not stopping until she reached the threshold of her home.

She ran up the stairs to her room, calling out a quick greeting to her parents, and slammed the door, sliding down against the wooden frame with an agonizing screech.

Had- had he just asked her out?

To the winter ball?

As a _date?!_

A large grin split her face, going from cheek to cheek as she giddily laughed in solitude.

Adrien Agreste had asked her out!

Not long after she made this sparkling realization, her grin completely dropped from her face, and she slapped a hand to her forehead in shame. Yes, Adrien Agreste _had_ asked her out, and she had totally ran away from him, without saying yes. She could die from embarrassment. Finally, her crush had asked her out, to a _dance_ no less, and in the face of adversity, she; Lady Luck, hero of Paris and akuma-crushing 'goddess' had stuttered and run away. Would he take back his offer? Would he hate her now, thinking her escape was meant as a 'no'? She couldn't let that happen. All the times she had missed opportunities to win him over, she couldn't let this one pass her by.

'But then again..' she thought, doubting herself. 'What if it was all some kind of joke? What if he wasn't _really_ asking me to the ball? What if-' Her musing was interrupted by a chime from her cell-phone. She reached into the pocket of her purse and saw several missed phone calls and texts. Tikki flew out from her purse and looked at Marinette groggily. "It's Alya," she said tiredly, "she probably wants to know why you ran from Adrien," Marinette sighed and flopped herself down on her bed, cell-phone in hand. "Tikki, what do I do? I might've just ruined my chances with Adrien, for good," she groaned to her kwami.

Tikki flew over placed a reassuring arm on her forehead, choosing her words carefully. "Marinette, the only way to know for sure is to talk to him directly. Explain to him what happened, he'll understand, I just know it." Marinette smiled and nuzzled her kwami, bringing her phone up to her face and sitting up. "You're right, Tikki. I just gotta be brave," She searched for Adrien's contact in her phone, typing out a message as if she were Ladybug, the boost of confidence compelling her to hit send, albeit with slight hesitation.

'My answer is yes. Don't forget to call me in the morning ;)'


	3. Chapter 3

Of all the reactions Adrien suspected, Marinette running away was not one of them.

He would be thrilled if she said yes, as it would certainly solve his 'Chloe' problem, but he could definitely handle he flat-out rejection, if it came to that. He could even take a tricky, indecisive answer. But for her to flee from the scene entirely? Unaccounted for in his not-so-well thought out plan. For a while he continued to kneel, frozen to the spot, feeling a lot like he imagined Kim felt when he had asked Chloe out on Valentine's Day, but a bit more confused. Did this mean she hated him more than he thought? Or was it the opposite? Did she just not know what to say? Not want to reject him outright? Spare his feelings? Whatever the reason, Adrien was left kneeling on the ground in utter and total confusion, and slight disappointment. Nino and Alya stood around him, equally as much in shock, though mostly from his proposal to Marinette in the first place, rather than the ensuing disaster.

Chloe, however, didn't skip a beat in her quest to ask Adrien out, even after witnessing the harsh display. Stalking over to him, she crossed her arms and tapped her foot much in the same fashion as a disapproving mother would, only bitchier. His arms dropped to his sides and he stood up slowly, not saying a word as he prepared for the storm bound to pour from the orifice of Chloe's mouth. "Well," she stated matter-of-factly, "Now that _that's_ over with, are you ready to get a _real_ date to the winter ball, Adrikins?" Internally, his eyes rolled. Externally, however, he started to sweat.

Before he could even answer her, his phone dinged with a notification. He held up a finger to Chloe, telling her to wait, as he pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped on the screen, desperate and thankful for the stalling it would provide from the situation he was currently in. He had one unread message from Marinette. His eyes widened and he quickly unlocked his phone to view the message.

'My answer is yes. Don't forget to call me in the morning ;)'

As he peered at the message, the subtle flirtation written in the note hit him like a truck. His cheeks dusted a light pink hue, and he felt suddenly hot. What was the matter with him? It was just a confirmation from Marinette! He should have been happy that he could tell Chloe he already had a date, but instead his chest felt warm for another reason. The overall cockiness of the message was so unlike the stuttering girl he knew, but then again, maybe he didn't really know Marinette at all. They hardly talked alone, and when they did, it was usually short, barely audible sentences from Marinette, and polite conversation on his part. Could it be there was a side to the sweet, shy, clumsy, awkward Marinette he knew? This excited him. If she was willing to show him this side, even through text, it could mean she was trying to open up to him. He decided he would talk to her the first chance he got, to see how things might have changed between them. In the meantime, however-

"Excuse me? Are you just going to ignore me while you check your phone? I asked you to be my date for the winter ball!" Chloe demanded with an air of indignity. Adrien turned to her and smiled. "Actually Chloe, Marinette just texted me. She said yes, so she's going to be my date to the ball already. Sorry it didn't work out," That was an utter lie, he was ecstatic at his change of luck, excited for the prospect of actually being free to have a decent time with friends at an event organized by Chloe.

Chloe snorted with disgust, "That embarrassment? Good luck there, Adrikins. She's nothing but trouble." 'You're one to talk,' he thought to himself. Chloe stormed off, snapping her fingers for Sabrina to follow as she hopped into a gorgeous black automobile to leave campus for her lunch break.

As soon as she was gone, Nino stepped forward and patted a heavy hand on Adrien's back. "Duuuuude... I can't believe you _finally_ asked her out," he said with an awestruck tone. Adrien reeled back and made a face. "Finally? I asked her out so I wouldn't have to deal with Chloe. Besides, Marinette is just a friend, nothing more." he explained, though he found that a lot of his explaining was to remind himself of the boundaries that had to exist between he and Marinette, lest he break his self-made promise to Ladybug. No matter how endearing he found Marinette, she was still just a friend.

Adrien heard Plagg snicker from inside his bag, and he jolted it a little to shut him up.

Nino didn't look convinced. "OK dude, whatever you say," He and Nino said their goodbyes as Nino joined Alya to leave campus, but Adrien found he didn't want to return to his giant, empty abode just yet, and decided to stay on campus for lunch. Finding a quiet spot devoid of the prying eyes and ears of students and faculty, Adrien slumped to a sitting position and opened his bag to allow Plagg out of hiding. Plagg floated out slowly with an apathetic expression, yawning and landing on Adrien's lap.

"Why are we still here? Let's go home and get some cheese for lunch, I'm starving"

Adrien rolled his eyes and frowned. "Plagg, chill with the cheese. This is serious," Plagg yawned again and shut his eyes before responding sleepily. "I don't see what the problem is, you asked a cute girl out to a dance, and now your problems are solved and you can go home and feed me," Adrien hesitated. "It's just... weird? The whole situation; Marinette running away, and then completely changing course and sending me that-" he paused " _bold_ message," He sighed, leaning back until he was looking upward. "and then how Nino acted, I mean what was with that? What does _he_ know that _I_ apparently don't?"

"I wouldn't overthink it, kid. Just be happy you don't have to go with what's-her-face,"

"You mean Chloe?"

"Whatever,"

Adrien groaned and buried his face in his knees. "I just hope this all goes down drama free this time," he mused, but knew full well that this was an improbable dream. Whenever a room full of teens without the verbal restraint of school ethics to stop them, there was always trouble.

"That's the spirit," Plagg jumped from Adrien's shoulder and crawled back into his bag, laying down for a long nap. Adrien rolled his eyes again and zipped his backpack up, standing mulling over the 'advice' from Plagg. His kwami did have a point, he didn't _actually_ have a problem. Besides, he liked Marinette, she was sweet and had been a good friend to him, so what if they went to a dance together? It could potentially be enjoyable.

With these thoughts in his head, Adrien walked around campus to the library to finish out the lunch break, not before receiving a stern phone call from Nathalie, who wanted to know where he was and why he had the audacity to make them worry and whither when the car intended to escort him home returned empty. After assuring her he was okay, Adrien found a quiet spot in the library to relax and do homework. He quickly got bored of it and started trying to make up as many library themed puns as he could. He was in the middle of a particularly good one when he picked up on the sound of someone else pacing the library.

'That's strange,' he thought. 'Hardly anyone stays on campus for lunch,' He got up and walked around to the fiction section of the library, where small, closed off rooms were located for private study. A couple had locked themselves in the room, the tinted window allowing him only to see the two silhouettes of the mystery people. He heard muffled speech, and pondered whether he should eavesdrop, until his damned curiosity bested his resolve and caused him to press his ear to the door to get a better listen.

"can't believe that- that- _loser_ is going out withAdrien! We have to do something about-" the semi-muffled voice complained. Adrien jumped back in shock at hearing his name. What did that mean? His curiosity peaking, he placed his ear back to the door hastily. There was another voice, quieter and higher in pitch. He couldn't understand the words they were saying, and he groaned in frustration. Whoever was in there had something to do with him, and from the sound of it, they weren't happy.

Adrien took several steps back from the door, hearing the people inside start to shift. He grabbed his bag and power walked from the scene, choosing to go to his next class as the lunch break ended. If the person in there was one of his fans, that could spell trouble for Marinette and himself. He desperately wanted to escape the chaotic and suffocating life his father had built for him, but how could he do so when he couldn't even be a 'normal' teenager at a school function? Furthermore, how could that be fair to his classmates, especially Marinette, who was to be his date. How could he have been so stupid? Obviously asking her out in that way would garner the attention of his crazed followers, and Adrien really didn't want to find out what that would mean for them. But he couldn't un-ask her out! He was so preoccupied by his troubling thoughts, he failed to pay attention to the other person walking straight toward him, who was also lost in their own world. His head swirled with doubt, and his pace started to pick up, before he ran smack into Marinette.

For the second time that day.


End file.
